The latest news on Tooting and Mitcham United FC from guest blogger, Roger Butcher

The poor weather and a couple of rescheduling issues have meant that Tooting have only played three games in February so far. And in true Tooting style, its won 1, drawn 1 and lost 1. We drew 2-2 away to bottom club Horsham and although we were grateful for an injury time equaliser from new signing Stefan Cox, we really should have been comfortably ahead by that time. It was a typical Tooting showing where the performance was good but the result was poor.

This pattern continued into the next game which was our Surrey Senior Cup quarter final away to Metropolitan Police. The Police are having a very good season in the division above us, and were favourites for this one. And it was the little extra class which told in a 2-1 defeat. We dominated possession for long periods and had the Police kettled up in their own penalty area for a while, but two pieces of clinical finishing gave them a 2-0 lead.  Met Police had young goalkeeper Alex Kozakis to thank for a string of good saves, and also had the post come to their aid as we continued to press for a goal. Eventually Dan Summers pulled one back with a sublime lob, but it was too little too late as another good performance by us was not rewarded with the result.
 

Manager Craig Tanner must have been impressed by the young Met Police goalkeeper, as just a few days later he signed for Tooting as a potential solution to our ongoing keeper troubles.  The position of goalkeeper is a special one, particularly at non league level where it is difficult to keep a reserve goalkeeper happy while not playing any first team games. So when a team loses their 1st choice goalkeeper to injury, as happened when Paul Smith damaged his shoulder, there isn’t always a suitable back up in place. After Smith got injured, we had teenager Harvey Cheadle to step into the number 1 shirt. However, Craig Tanner didn’t feel that he was ready for regular first team football and brought in Luke Badiali as a longer term replacement. Paul Smith has still not recovered, so when Badiali was suspended for his indiscretion at Guernsey we brought in young academy product Bobby Aspinall for his first team debut. However, Aspinall was unavailable for selection last week due to a prior engagement, so Tanner has moved quickly to sign Alex Kozakis, who so impressed for Metropolitan Police.

Before the signing of Kozakis, Bobby Aspinall put in a fine performance in the home win over Walton Casuals. We controlled the game early on, and for once our dominance was rewarded with goals as we raced into a 3-0 lead, including another goal for Stefan Cox. However, the afternoon took a turn for the worse as Cox was sent off for a retaliatory action!  Nevertheless, we played well even with 10 men and ran out comfortable 4-1 winners. It is frustrating to know that we are capable of playing very well at times, but are quite inconsistent at the same time, hence our mid table position.

But there is still some silverware to play for. Our London Senior Cup semi final takes place on Tuesday 3rd March at 7:45 at the KNK Stadium. The opponents are Cray Valley who play in a league below us so will probably start as underdogs. However, we played each other last season and we were knocked out of the same competition on penalties – so we need to be out our best to prevent a repeat. Why not come along and hopefully cheer the boys onto the final.

Please note the new website address is www.tmu-fc.co.uk

Upcoming home fixtures:

• Redhill on Saturday 28th February at 3:00pm
• Cray Valley (London Senior Cup semi final) Tuesday 3rd March at 7:45pm
• Corinthian Casuals on Saturday 14th March at 3:00pm 

Come along – the 280 bus stops just outside the ground!